Palestinian Red Cross proves 15 Gaza paramedics were attacked three times

BarcelonaThe Palestinian Red Cross presented new evidence this Monday of the attack on fifteen paramedics in Gaza on March 23, based on footage recovered from the cell phone of one of the victims. The video shows that the paramedics, who had responded to a rescue mission authorized by the Israeli army in the southern Gaza Strip, were attacked three times while traveling in ambulances with their emergency lights on and the personnel clearly in uniform. An initial video released on Saturday already contradicted the Israeli version, according to which the vehicles were driving without lights and were moving "suspiciously" toward the Israeli soldiers. The footage shows that the ambulances carrying the medical personnel, who were dressed in reflective uniforms, and the fire truck accompanying them were clearly marked as rescue vehicles and had their emergency lights on.

In the new video, a second team can be seen searching for the first ambulance with which they had lost communication. "Why aren't they answering their phones? I pray they're okay, I pray they haven't been attacked," says one of the paramedics. After a few minutes, they encounter another ambulance that had left in search of the first team and decide to continue in convoy to minimize risks. Finally, when they locate the first attacked vehicle and go to rescue their colleagues, they hear gunfire and in the background, you can see them calling out in Hebrew.

The president of the Palestinian Red Cross, Younis Al Khatib, has called on the UN Security Council and each of its members to carry out an independent investigation and has compiled the evidence of war crimes revealed in the images, before an auditorium full of fellow humanitarians. The ambulances had their emergency lights on and their crews were identified by reflective clothing, but the soldiers opened fire directly at them, as one of the survivors also reported. And the drivers were concerned about running out of fuel, demonstrating that the siege on humanitarian aid has affected essential services. Al Khatib also noted that Israel has been unable to prove that there were fighters hiding in the ambulances.

Al Khatib said that "fine words are not enough" and urged the international community to take action to uphold international law and protect humanitarian workers in Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and guaranteed entry of humanitarian aid. "The solution to the world's problems is not in the hands of humanitarian workers but in the hands of politicians and governments," he said. And he also recalled that "this is no longer a Palestinian problem: in a world where there are more and more wars, if humanitarian workers are treated this way, we will face a catastrophe."

Israel insists that there were "terrorists" in the vehicles and that is why it attacked them. It also claims to have killed nine suspected militants, although so far it has only given the name of one of the alleged fighters it killed, and it does not match the name of any of the health and rescue workers killed in the attack. Eight were doctors with the Palestinian Red Crescent and six were part of the Civil Defense first aid corps. It also does not match the name of a fifteenth emergency worker killed, who was a member of UNRWA staff.

In the video, a paramedic filming the incident can be seen saying: "Sorry, Mom, this is the path I have chosen: to help people." The shots ring out for five minutes, as the image fades to black. The man asks God for forgiveness and says he knows he's going to die.

The events occurred on Sunday, March 23, when Israel ordered the forced evacuation of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, which was bombed shortly afterward. The Red Crescent then mobilized two ambulances to search for the wounded, and after losing contact with one of the vehicles, sent several more rescue teams, which were also attacked for several hours, according to the United Nations.

Emergency services were unable to access the area until four days after the attack. At that time, they only recovered the body of a single Civil Defense worker. The following Sunday, in a renewed search, rescue teams Fourteen more bodies were unearthed from a mass grave.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army acknowledged that it covered the bodies of the fifteen paramedics "with cloth and earth," justifying it by claiming that they anticipated they would not be rescued immediately. According to the Civil Defense, some of the medical and rescue workers were found with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the head and chest. In fact, Ahmad Dhaher, a forensic doctor who examined the bodies at Nasser Hospital, where they were taken, explained to the British newspaperThe Guardianwho had died from a shot at close range, since the locations of the bullet wounds were specific and intentional. "One was shot in the head, another in the heart, and a third victim had six or seven bullets in the torso," the doctor explained.

Following the video released this Saturday, Hamas authorities in Gaza have reacted as follows: "We are witnessing a total, premeditated, and deliberate war crime, which demonstrates a complete disregard for the blood of medical and humanitarian personnel." The Gaza authorities are calling for an international investigation into the events and the dispatch of a forensic team to visit the mass grave. They also demand that those responsible be brought to trial before the International Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have continued in the last 24 hours, leaving 60 people dead and 162 injured.